Report of the Sub-Committee on Other Southern Hemisphere Whale Stocks

• Main Author: Ross-Gillespie, A
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: University of Cape Town 2014
• Subjects: Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Argentina; Dumont d’Urville; Queen Maud Land; Ross Sea; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Australian Antarctic Division; Blue whale; D’Urville Sea
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/21480; https://open.uct.ac.za/bitstream/11427/21480/1/Ross_Gillespie_Report_Sub_Committee_2014.pdf

SC/65b/SH12rev provided an overview of Southern Ocean Research Partnership (IWC-SORP) progress since SC/65a. Progress made by the five on-going research projects is summarised below. SC/65b/SH12rev Annex 1 provided an update on the Antarctic Blue Whale Project. Its objectives are to improve current understanding of the status of the Antarctic blue whales and their role in the Antarctic ecosystem. The project has recently cooperated on five voyages to the Southern Ocean: (1) 2013 Voyage to the Ross Sea, led by the Australian Antarctic Division (SC/65a/SH21); (2) 2013/14 Whale Song Antarctic Voyage for Ecosystem Studies (WAVES) Expedition, led by the Centre for Whale Research, Australia; (3) 2014 voyage to the Antarctic Peninsula, an initiative of the South American Consortium led by Argentina (SC/65b/SH16Rev); (4) South African voyage to the Queen Maud Land coast (SC/65b/SH01); and (5) CETA voyage to the Dumont d’Urville Sea led by France (SC/65b/SH05). Data are also being augmented with information from ships of opportunity that contribute sightings data to the online reporting system.